Mayor gets more flak as council progress praised

Peter Davies leads troubled Doncaster Council, and has courted controversy with policies he claims will stop public sector waste and clean up the town’s tarnished image.

Earlier this month he withdrew from the Local Government Association (LGA) to save cash, a move yesterday branded “negative”, amid warnings of the council “going backwards”.

According to Audit Commission inspectors, Doncaster has suffered in recent years from political in-fighting and poor leadership, which led to a series of disastrous failings.

The deaths of seven children known to social services and the shocking Edlington child attacks sparked a damning report which slammed the council as the worst in the country.

That report was published last April and Doncaster’s Improvement Board was set up by Communities Secretary Eric Pickles after the General Election. It first met last October.

Mayor Davies says withdrawing from the LGA will save £200,000. He has attended one of three meetings of the board held so far, and was not present yesterday to defend his decision.

In a report to the meeting the council’s chief executive, Rob Vincent, who was brought in by the Government to run the authority until December, made clear his opposition to withdrawal.

Board member and Labour leader of Barnsley Council Steve Houghton also said the LGA was now more important than ever after a Government decision to scrap the Audit Commission.

He said scrapping association membership could lead to “isolation” for Doncaster and added: “I firmly believe that members of the council here need to compare with others.

“To date some of that has come from the Audit Commission, but with that being removed, how is that going to work in future? It is increasingly going to come through the LGA.

“Given where we are here, the withdrawal is going to have some effect considering where Doncaster is coming from. We can’t get away from that.”

The board’s chairman, Sir John Harman, echoed Coun Houghton’s concerns, and said: “I regard the decision to leave the LGA as a piece of negative evidence.

“I share your view that there should be an opportunity to review this before any further damage is done.”

Sandra Holland, the leader of Doncaster Council’s Labour group, the largest political group on the council, told the meeting the decision was a “big disappointment”.

Coun Holland, who has served on the LGA councillors forum, said withdrawal would send Doncaster backwards in the eyes of other authorities.

She added: “I have spent a year going down to London waving the banner for Doncaster. This is not just about what we do as a council, it is about restoring our reputation with our peers.”

Yesterday’s meeting heard that a “great deal of progress” had been made in other areas of the council, and Sir John said Ministers were “very pleased” with what had been achieved.

He added: “I have been asked to pass on my congratulations to this board for that, and those congratulations should be passed on to the council.”

Mayor Davies was not available for comment yesterday, but in a letter to Sir John Harman, seen by the Yorkshire Post, he said his decision on the LGA was “carefully considered”.

The letter said: “I have read Rob Vincent’s progress report to the Recovery Board. In general I think it captures well the strength of progress.

“I do, however, disagree with one element. The decision taken to confirm withdrawal from the LGA was carefully considered and based on significant issues of principle.

“At a time when we are having to make major reduction in council expenditure and in doing so affect some services to residents and the employment of a large number of officers, it seems to me to be unsustainable.

“I do not believe that the benefits of membership justify the expense. Nor do I believe the organisation has used the resources collected from its fees appropriately.”

Mr Davies said the decision to scrap LGA membership would be reviewed in six months.